Greetings WOW Members and Web Professionals everywhere! Bill Cullifer here with the World Organization of Webmasters (WOW) and the WOW Technology Minute.
Today?’s podcast is a continuation of the media coverage of the VTM Web design Conference on the topic of Usability.
If you?’ve been practicing on the Web for awhile then you know first hand that Usability is a science and you can spend years studying the topic. That said, if you?’re like me, chances are you don?’t have that kind of time so I?’m hopeful that we can provide you with a better understanding of this topic and a few “walk away?’s” that you can use today with a series of podcast on the topic.
To that end, I?’d like to share with you additional insights from the roundtable with Steve Krug author of the best selling book “Don?’t Make Me Think”. As you may recall, I sat in on the roundtable discussion with Steve and Nancy Aldrich Ruenzel, Vice President and Publisher at PeachPit.
It?’s clear to me why Steve?’s books are so popular and that?’s because he recommends on the surface at least are some pretty straight forward things that you can do today. For example, Nancy asked Steve about the reference in his book regarding the “third law of usability,” and that is one of his suggestions of getting rid of half the words on each page then get rid of half of what?’s left.
Steve commented back to Nancy by saying that it reality it “kind of hard to get rid of half of what?’s left but I could, I could get rid of half the words on most pages.”
Nancy also asked Steve to comment on what she heard someone saying at one his recent workshops regarding “usability testing is like psychoanalysis”. Steve?’s said was that he “always said it was, I said that for years, that it was like psychoanalysis because of the questions you ask” in the usability process.
“The whole point is to keep them thinking aloud said Steve. “You can see what is in the thought bubbles over their head, so that you can see where they?’re getting confused because that?’s the useful information you are looking for to figure out how to make the design better.”
Here are a couple of other zingers from my notes:
Steve continued to explain his comment on psychoanalysis with the explanation of the supporting role of a therapist. And that is “to keep their own opinions out of the process.” said Steve. “As a usability-test facilitator it turns out the hardest thing for amateurs to do is to keep themselves out of it”. His advice is to not give the person help and to not try and steer them towards a particular problem that they want revealed or to not give them encouragement or you know, whatever. So that is like a therapist.
Stay tuned for more coverage on this topic including a one on one interview with Steve where I ask hip for a couple of tips for Web professionals that we can start using today.
Check out the two minute audio podcast at: WOW Technology Minute.
Today s podcast is sponsored by the Webmaster Survival Guide. Check out all of the great resources and links at: WebmasterSurvivalGuide